4.—(1) The Minister may appoint such persons or classes of persons as he or she considers appropriate to be authorised officers for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) shall, on his or her appointment, be furnished by the Minister with a warrant of his or her appointment and when exercising a power conferred by this Act shall, if requested by any person thereby affected, produce such warrant to that person for inspection.

F12[(3) For the purposes of the Sea Pollution Acts 1991 to 2006, an authorised officer may—

(a) enter at any time a relevant facility or ship, or any part thereof, for the purpose of exercising any powers conferred on him or her by this section,

(b) make inspections and carry out such tests as he or she thinks fit in relation to the carrying on of any activities in a relevant facility or ship, including the monitoring and assessment of the effects on the marine environment of such activities,

(c) make such inspections and carry out such tests in a relevant facility or ship as he or she thinks fit for the purposes of monitoring and assessing the effects on the marine environment of any oil pollution incident or a pollution incident by hazardous and noxious substances,

(d) require any person in a relevant facility or ship to produce to him or her such documents, records or materials as are in that person’s possession or control relating to any plan which is required to be kept on board the relevant facility or ship and to give to him or her such information as he or she may reasonably require in respect of such documents, records or materials, or

(e) require any person holding any position of authority or responsibility in relation to the implementation of any plan referred to in paragraph (d) to give to him or her such information as he or she may reasonably require in relation to the procedures employed or steps taken to ensure the carrying out of and compliance with such plan.

(3A) In this section ‘relevant facility or ship’ means one or more of the following:

(a) a harbour;

(b) an offshore unit;

(c) an oil handling facility;

(d) a hazardous and noxious substances handling facility;

(e) a relevant Irish ship;

(f) a ship to which one or more of paragraphs (d), (e) and (f) of section 3(2) applies.]

(4) Any person who—

(a) obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of his or her powers under this section,

(b) without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with a requirement made of him or her under subsection (3), or

(c) makes a statement or furnishes information to an authorised officer, pursuant to a requirement made of him or her under subsection (3) by such officer, that is false or misleading in a material respect, knowing it to be false or misleading or being reckless as to whether it is so false or misleading,

shall be guilty of an offence.